UFC on FOX 23 does 2.02 million viewers in overnight ratings

The early signs regarding Saturday night’s UFC on FOX ratings were not good as compared to usual late-January numbers.

According to TVbythenumbers.com, the overnight ratings for the show headlined by Valentina Shevchenko’s second-round win over Julianna Pena in a battle of top women’s bantamweights, did a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demo and 2.02 million viewers.

The previous lowest audience on the overnights for the annual January show on FOX was 2.43 million for last year’s show headlined by Anthony “Rumble” Johnson’s quick knockout win over Ryan Bader. The January average over the past four years for the overnights was 2.78 million viewers.

FOX also finished last among the four major networks in terms of total viewers, and only beat CBS in the 18-49 demo.

NBC did a 0.8 in the demo and 4.85 million viewers, winning the night, with a 48 Hours rerun.

ABC did a 0.8 in the demo and 2.58 million viewers for a night headlined by a Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Clippers matchup.

Because the overnights only measure the FOX stations between 8-10 p.m. Eastern, 7-9 p.m Central, 6-8 p.m. Mountain and 8-10 p.m. Pacific, the slots when most prime time shows air, for sports, the number will almost always rise when the final ratings come out in a few days. The overnight numbers measure whatever the FOX affiliates aired on the West Coast from 8-10 p.m., and not the live UFC programming.

In addition, for most UFC on FOX shows, portions, and at times the entire main event isn’t figured into the ratings, since the overnights for FOX only measure up to 10 p.m. and often the show lasts until nearly 10:30 p.m. with the most-watched portion of the show after 10 p.m.

In this case, the jump from this already-low 2.02 million viewer won’t be as significant. Due to quick finishes, the show went off the air at 10 p.m.

Women main events with Shevchenko vs. Holly Holm in July, and Michelle Waterson vs. Paige VanZant in December, did strong numbers, the former being the best summer numbers the UFC has ever done and the latter being the best overall number in a few years.